John Benjamins Publishing Company
An L2 study on the production of stress patterns in English compounds
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María Luisa Zubizarreta
Abstract
This paper compares the production of stress patterns in various types of compounds by English natives and by L1 Spanish/L2 English speakers. English natives (ENs) systematically produced idiomatic compounds with fore-stress (Strong-Weak) patterns, and so did the second language learners (L2ers) (although to a lesser extent). Significant differences were found between the two groups in their stress production of less familiar compositional compounds. While there was a strong tendency for ENs to produce fore-stress patterns in the case of argument-head combinations and a weak tendency to produce end-stress (Weak-Strong) patterns in the case of modifier-head combinations, L2ers exhibited a strong tendency to produce end-stress patterns across the board. We attribute this to the end-based stress property of the L1, in conjunction with the relatively ambiguous prosody of the modifier-head type due to analogical processes. Keywords: second language acquisition; stress patterns; compound words; noun-noun constructions; Nuclear Stress Rule
Abstract
This paper compares the production of stress patterns in various types of compounds by English natives and by L1 Spanish/L2 English speakers. English natives (ENs) systematically produced idiomatic compounds with fore-stress (Strong-Weak) patterns, and so did the second language learners (L2ers) (although to a lesser extent). Significant differences were found between the two groups in their stress production of less familiar compositional compounds. While there was a strong tendency for ENs to produce fore-stress patterns in the case of argument-head combinations and a weak tendency to produce end-stress (Weak-Strong) patterns in the case of modifier-head combinations, L2ers exhibited a strong tendency to produce end-stress patterns across the board. We attribute this to the end-based stress property of the L1, in conjunction with the relatively ambiguous prosody of the modifier-head type due to analogical processes. Keywords: second language acquisition; stress patterns; compound words; noun-noun constructions; Nuclear Stress Rule
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction 1
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Part I. Argument structure and clause-internal syntax in children
- Animacy, argument structure and unaccusatives in child English 13
- Remarks on theoretical accounts of Japanese children’s passive acquisition 35
- Early or late acquisition of inflected infinitives in European Portuguese? 65
- The relationship between determiner omission and root infinitives in child English 89
- The semantics of the tense deficit in child Spanish SLI 107
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Part II. The DP domain
- The acquisition of reflexives and pronouns by Faroese children 131
- Pronouns vs. definite descriptions 157
- An L2 study on the production of stress patterns in English compounds 185
- The syntactic domain of content 205
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Part III. Learning theory
- There-insertion 251
- Metalinguistic skills of children 271
- Children’s Grammatical Conservatism 291
- Contributing to linguistic theory, language description and the characterization of language development through experimental studies 309
- A new theory of null-subjects of finite verbs in young children 325
- Index 357
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction 1
-
Part I. Argument structure and clause-internal syntax in children
- Animacy, argument structure and unaccusatives in child English 13
- Remarks on theoretical accounts of Japanese children’s passive acquisition 35
- Early or late acquisition of inflected infinitives in European Portuguese? 65
- The relationship between determiner omission and root infinitives in child English 89
- The semantics of the tense deficit in child Spanish SLI 107
-
Part II. The DP domain
- The acquisition of reflexives and pronouns by Faroese children 131
- Pronouns vs. definite descriptions 157
- An L2 study on the production of stress patterns in English compounds 185
- The syntactic domain of content 205
-
Part III. Learning theory
- There-insertion 251
- Metalinguistic skills of children 271
- Children’s Grammatical Conservatism 291
- Contributing to linguistic theory, language description and the characterization of language development through experimental studies 309
- A new theory of null-subjects of finite verbs in young children 325
- Index 357
